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Girls Soccer: East Ridge wins Suburban East Conference title

Senior Emily Bakken stops to get the ball away from a Trinity player. Bakken scored one of the three goals for New Life Academy as the Eagles finished in a 3-3 tie. Brian Mozey / RiverTown Multimedia 1 / 2

Freshman Abby Kuphal finds an open teammate down the field as New Life Academy ties with Trinity 3-3 on Tuesday night. Brian Mozey / RiverTown Multimedia 2 / 2

Thursday night

East Ridge 4, Roseville 1

The Raptors defeated Roseville on Thursday night to clinch the Suburban East Conference title. The four goals were scored by Morgan Werner, Jess Machovec, Reagan Goulding and Linnea Yacovella.

East Ridge finishes with season with a 12-2-1 regular season record and a 7-1 conference record. The Raptors finished just in front of Stillwater and Woodbury in the conference.

Now, East Ridge will bring the momentum of a conference title to the section tournament next week for a chance to make it three straight appearances in the state tournament.

White Bear Lake 7, Park 0

The Wolfpack was tied 0-0 with White Bear Lake on Thursday night, but White Bear Lake got on a scoring streak in the second half. They scored seven goals to win 7-0.

Park has one more game left this regular season against Champlin Park at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6 before the Wolfpack start section play.

Wednesday night

New Life Academy 5, Legacy Christian 0

The Eagles finished the regular season with a 5-0 win over Legacy Christian on Wednesday night. That win solidified New Life in second place in the conference and giving the Eagles the best record since head coach Sam Mann started three years ago.

The section tournament begins next week and the brackets will be released on Sunday, Oct. 7 with information of dates and times along with opponents for the next couple of weeks.

Tuesday night

New Life Academy 3, Trinity 3

It was a 0-0 tie for the first 25 minutes of the New Life Academy and Trinity girls soccer game on Tuesday night.

Then, the scoring came at a consistent pace.

It became a back-and-forth game between the two teams and, eventually, ended in a 3-3 tie after 90 minutes of play.

"It's been a good season so far and the girls are working really hard towards the end of the season," said head coach Sam Mann.

The game on Tuesday started with a goal from Trinity with 15 minutes left, but New Life was able to score before the end of the first half to tie the game at 1-1. The goal came from senior Emily Bakken.

Once the second half started, it took little time for New Life to take a 2-1 lead with the help of senior Jessica Hase. That goal took place three minutes into the second half, but Trinity scored eight minutes later to tie the game at 2-2.

The Eagles found a good opportunity with 19 minutes left in the game as New Life had a corner kick. The ball was blocked by Trinity's goalie, but senior Sophia Sosa continued fighting and used her head to put the ball in the back of the net.

The New Life bench was excited to see the Eagles on top once again, but that excitement vanished about 30 seconds later as Trinity tied it up with a goal of its own.

That would be the last goal of the game as defense played a role for the remaining part of the second half and the entire overtime. This back-and-forth game represents the season the Eagles have faced.

"When we started the season 0-3, we sat down as a team and discussed our goals for the season," said senior Claire Maple. "That discussion helped us get back on track and battle through the rest of the season."

After the 0-3 start, New Life went 4-0-1 in the next five games to improve its record to 4-3-1 on the season. A couple losses in the middle of the season dropped the Eagles record below .500, but New Life came back to win three straight games.

The Eagles are currently 7-6-2 this season with only one more regular season game left to play at Legacy Christian on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 4:15 p.m.

New Life is sitting in second place in its conference with a 5-1-1 conference record. The Eagles are behind Heritage Christian who is a perfect 6-0 in conference play.

"It's great to see that we are in second place in the conference and making the right steps before section play," Sosa said. "We know how important sections are in a season."

The girls soccer section tournaments start next week, so the Eagles are preparing a win-or-go-home mentality to get them through the tough games next week. Mann, Sosa and Maple all bring experience from those tournaments in past seasons, so they're hoping to help the younger players understand the atmosphere and mentality before they step onto the field.

"We have to play our best soccer during sections, otherwise we could lose early," Mann said. "These girls will be ready to play tough and smart when that section play hits us next week."

East Ridge 5, Cretin-Derham Hall 2

The Raptors continue their impressive season as they knock off Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday night with a 5-2 final. After the win, East Ridge holds an overall record of 11-2-1 this season with a conference record of 6-1. This conference record has put the Raptors in first place in the Suburban East Conference in front of Stillwater and Woodbury.

Linnea Yacovella had a big night on Tuesday with a hat trick, three goals on the night. The other two goals came from Morgan Werner and Isabel Kothe. If East Ridge can win its last game on Thursday, October 4 at 5 p.m. against Roseville, the Raptors will be conference champions heading into section play next week.

I am the sports writer for the Woodbury Bulletin and South Washington County Bulletin. I'm a graduate from the Greenlee School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Iowa State University and have always had a passion for sports since a young age. Whether it was watching or playing sports, I always knew sports would be in my career. I've been born and raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis and look forward to continuing to learn more about the Woodbury and Cottage Grove area throughout my time in this position.